BRAKE PROBLEMS!!!

[4 door escort]

hi all, now got the engine in with the 40's and it started....good times!

 

but in order to do so, as some may know, i've had to take the brake master cylinder off and replace it with a new pedal box that has the master cylinders on top of it, sounds good and now has the benefit of braided hoses, however the pedal has become really stiff, does any one have any ideas why?

 

i should mention that none of the hoses are pinched, i never had a servo on the car so it's not like i'm used to servo assisted brakes but the pedal is incredibly hard, any ideas are welcome

 

Tony

[marky4]

i think the pedal is alot harder without a servo but i'm sure others on here who have done that will tell you more

[Guest MK1gaz]

Bloody shite things mate , my brakes are a pain in the arse since the bias-peddle box conversion and i'll be ripping the lot out this winter for sure

[Retromotorsport]

I wonder how many bias pedal boxes have been sold .. ???

 

You say your pedal is rock hard, you have a bias box and ... thats all the info you've given.

 

If you have tiny brake pistons and huge cylinders you'll have a rock hard pedal after some travel.. but you dont mention how much travel you have.

Also going over to braided lines from spongy rubber will firm up the pedal.

 

Also have you moved the car, or is it on axle stands?

 

Quite often people adjust the boxes wrong, there should be free play on the pedal or the cylinders will pump up, giving a solid pedal and locked brakes.

 

Gaz, you now have brakes that work, but your losing the pedal, that can only mean a leak or your getting air in the system .. mark the cylinders on a patch of level concrete, then make all 4 tyre footprints so you can park in the same spot. Run the car around untill the pedal goes away, park it up again and check the marks, if one cylinders level is lower than the mark, you have a leak on that circuit.. find it and fix it

Also whose box is it ? I've never been a fan of the Escort Bias box, its a bugger to fit and work on when fitted, but the only one i would recomend is from Gartrac, Daves boxes are the best and dont crack like some of the cheaper ones,

Now where you where standing on the pedal to stop after listening to 'experts' ( expert, an ex = has been and a spurt is a drip under pressure) and fiiting the M/cyls round the wrong way for your applicaton,you may have cracked it and its that thats causing the sinking .. I dont have all the details of your problem, as i'm just going on what someone is telling me.

 

Tell me exactly whats up with yours and i'll see if i can help.

 

I've seen long pedals because the bearings when hot come loose and you get pad knock off..

i've seen a momentary long pedal because in reverse the shoes have knocked the slaves back .. a roll back on a hill start was enough to do it.

I've seen long pedals because of worn or cocked pistons,

thers so many reasons why a brake system fails in some way, but its rarely the bias box thats a fault .. its just a box at the end of the day, a lever, 9 out of 10 times its something else in the system thats wrong ..and out of those 9 normally its the installer

Pop the car up to me and i'll have a quick look..

[4 door escort]

cheers for the reply retromotorsport, i have standard brakes on the car, and one of these pedal boxes with the brake master cylinders mounted on top of it (had to go down this route to fit the webers on), now i'm totally new to this brake set up so i don't know what to expect in the way of how the pedal is supposed to feel, the car does roll freely and i have only a little travel in the pedal (and it is literally a tiny bit) before the brakes are on and the car stops, unfortunately i haven't had chance to test them too much as i have clutch problems (that's another story) but i would like any advice on why the pedal is so hard.

 

Now you did mention something about a difference in the size of the pistons, would this cause a problem using this type of set up on standard calipers?

 

any advice would be much appreciated, many thanks

 

Tony

[Retromotorsport]

What size are the master cylinders

 

and " a little movement " can be a mm or a meter .. a meter is a little movement when compared to 10,000Km's